Oliver Kahn roasts Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid nightmare

Former Bayern Munich CEO has had his say on Xabi Alonso’s recent struggles at Real Madrid, urging the Spanish manager to ditch the “tactical obsession” to allow players to express themselves on the pitch to get better results.

This comes after the Madrid manager played down sack rumours on Thursday, following the club’s recent surprise defeat against Celta Vigo and a 2-1 loss against Premier League giants Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek.

Alonso has inadvertently put pressure on himself with the team’s underwhelming performance lately, winning just two games in the last eight in all competitions, while drawing four.

Meanwhile, the 44-year-old manager has insisted, following Wednesday’s defeat to City in the Champions League at the Bernabéu, that he’s not contemplating a sack after the pressure on his position at Madrid was discussed.

Reports from Madrid claim the Los Blancos dressing room has turned against Alonso, with players fed up with “excessive” video sessions and a lack of creative freedom.

Speaking on Sky Sport Germany, former Bayern CEO Kahn suggested that these struggles were inevitable because Alonso’s philosophy is fundamentally incompatible with the “Galactico” culture.

“It is no surprise because his idea does not fit Real Madrid,” Kahn explained.

“The approach Xabi pursues with this system football and positional play requires very specific players. At Real Madrid, however, completely different football is played.

“It is about freedom and individuality; players do not want to be pressed into systems there, and that is the great misunderstanding. You need a coach who finds the best way to bring superstars together, but not one who starts explaining to them that they must play a very specific system.”

Alonso enjoyed a perfect start after joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. His side won their first seven games across La Liga and the Champions League before finally going down 5-2 to Atletico Madrid.

Another six straight wins followed—including a statement 2-1 Clasico triumph—but a Champions League defeat to Liverpool triggered a shocking collapse.

They now sit four points behind Barcelona in La Liga and are seventh in the Champions League table.

Alonso now faces an uphill battle leading up to the winter break to save his job. He must find a way to balance his tactical principles with the individual freedom craved by his stars, if he has dreams of turning things in his favour.